WTI slides below $80.00 as pressures mount on the White House to tap SPR oil reserves

During the New York session, the Western Texas Intermediate (WTI) US crude oil benchmark slides as Democrats increased pressure on the White House to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to cap elevated gasoline prices.  At the time of writing, WTI extends its four-day slump, falling 1.07%, trading at $78.89.

According to sources cited by Bloomberg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Gharnholm told CNN that the US President is evaluating the available tools, including a release from the SPR. Market participants said that a release from the US SPR would help in the near term, but it would not solve the problem.

Earlier in the American session, the black gold dipped as low as $78.33 but bounced off, recovering some $0.50 throughout the day.

Meanwhile, OPEC and its allies will be adding 400,000 barrels a day of crude oil each month in the middle east. The cartel is cautious about demand stability in the coming months. Some countries in central and eastern Europe have reimposed restrictions as COVID-19 cases have increased.

WTI Price Forecast: Technical outlook

In the 4-hour chart, WTI is trading within a descending channel, below the simple moving averages (SMA’s), with the 50-SMA just crossing below the 200-SMA, depicting a death-cross. This means that crude oil has a downward bias in the short-term confirmed by the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 40, aims lower.

The first support level would be November 4 pivot low at $77.61. A breach of the latter would expose the October 7 swing low at $74.74.